I don't think Cust's attempt to be more aggressive at the plate is paying off. Cust walked 19 percent of the time and struck out in 33 percent of his plate appearances last year. This year, he's down to 12 percent and 24 percent, respectively. Unfortunately, the weaker strikeout rate isn't resulting in more singles, much less additional home runs.

I thought Cabrera would play poorly enough to force the A's to hit him lower in the order. He's actually been far worse than expected, yet he's still received all but six of his at-bats in the first and second spots in the lineup.

Oddly, two-thirds of Giambi's nine homers have come against lefties. Over the course of his career, 76 percent of his homers had come versus righties. He's hitting just .205/.344/.311 against righties this season.